Can you have a destination wedding in Michigan? Most people believe that in order to officially call it a “destination wedding,” you have to travel to some arid romantic desert or crazy opulent mountain, or a place where you don’t understand the language. Laura and Immanuel had a destination wedding in Michigan, even though none of the above applies. Neither of the families live there, but it was just a great middle point for people to come from all over the place. So, yes, this is a destination wedding indeed.

about the day of

We had beautiful morning–the most instagrammable of mornings–drinking coffee and making flowers. Well I had coffee and Laura and her bridesmaids were making flowers), while Immanuel partied with the guys in the basement. The forecast was telling us for the whole week before that it will be raining the whole day, so we had some backup plans set in place, but one thing I learned over the course of my life is not to trust weather forecast too much. Also having a bride who is not afraid to get her dress a bit dirty helps a lot (the ground was drenched and squishy).

I coached Immanuel how we will do the first look so as to get the best possible photos. But when Laura started walking towards him he couldn’t hold still and turned and bolted towards her! This was just the beginning of an epic awesome day! The bridal party was going nuts, Immanuel was going nuts, and Laura wasn’t going nuts 😀

After the church we drove to the beautiful Bissell Tree House in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This place was just dreamy. We took a few pictures around there and then went straight to the party. And here I don’t mean wedding reception, but PARTYYYYYYY. When you bring a bunch of crazy people and you play them some loud music they are unstoppable! Just see for yourself!

Shooting 12 hour days kills my back a bit, but spending such long hours shooting with our couples is always so worth it since we get to capture the whole day from absolute beginning to end, and not just a truncated version of it. For us and for what we do and love to do, it is soooooooo worth it!